INDIA ENTER TIGER RESERVE

Bangladesh threaten via opener Das before India’s big-game nous dig them out of a deep hole in curtailed affair

- VENKATA KRISHNA B

THERE was a sigh of relief at the end, followed by smiles. An hour earlier, as a heavy downpour brought the game toa halt at the Adelaide Oval, it looked grim for India. Having posted 184/6, largely thanks to Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 64 and KL Rahul’s 50, they believed and rightly so that they had the game in the pocket. With due respect to Bangladesh, they are a team that is yet to crack the T20 code. Bereft of power-hitters, they were not supposed to threaten 184.

Yet, thanks to some blistering batting from opener Litton Das, Bangladesh had raced to 66/0 in 7 overs. They were 17 runs ahead of DLS when the clouds opened up. The 50-minute break not only allowed India to regroup, but also stalled the momentum Bangladesh had gained. This World Cup hasn’t been easy for batters in the powerplay. But, against an Indian seam attack that included Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami and Arshdeep Singh, Das was lighting up the night sky like few else have in this tournament. Making the short-boundaries on either side to good effect only 10 of his 60 27 balls) came in the V Das provided Bangladesh a head start in the chase.